Tuesday 28 February 2012

Some of the books that I read whilst on holiday

In reply to my last post, as to what to blog about, Campfire suggested writing about books read recently. This did start out as a bookish blog, but when one has been reading at the rate that I have over the last few years (although things have dropped off since mid 2011), it was just eating too much into my reading time to write about them all.

But anyway, here's a round up of some of the books that I read whilst on holiday.

I treated myself to the Greyladies Publication of Summer Pudding by Susan Scarlett, aka Noel Streatfeild. Greyladies have been republishing the Susan Scarlett novels and I always buy them. They're much lighter than the adult novels that she wrote under her own name, and to my mind they feel a little bit like her childrens books only for grownups. This one, penned in 1943, tells the story of a girl bombed out of her London office who goes to join her mother and sister evacuated to the countryside and how they all become involved in village life. Immensely readable.

At the airport, I bought the new Joanna Trollope, The soldier's wife, which was an extremely topical novel from the eminent novelist. This kept me occupied (with breaks for naps) for all of the 4 hour flight to Tenerife so was quite a good investment. I'm interested to know more about the research that Trollope did as this struck me as something which was probably quite true to the experiences of women married to men in the armed forces - one of my friends was for a time married to a Royal Marine, so that is the understanding that I have had. As usual, there is a good strong plot with various sub plots that make it engrossing to read along with the sense, not always present in her novels, of learning about something new.

I reread Enid Blyton's The secret Room - it's ages since I'd read one of the Five find outer books. The last Enid Blyton I reread left me cold as I remembered the plot line far too easily but this was excellent - it's the one where they discover disguises and much amusement is had by the unpolitically correct Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip and Bets, not to mention Buster the dog, and of course they manage to solve a mystery and outwit Mr Goon by the end of the book too.

I also enjoyed reading Lorna Hill's The secret which is the last in her Wells series. I'm still trying to track down a copy of Vicki in Venice (ideally in the Girls Gone By edition), but had had this on my shelves for over two years and just couldn't wait to get hold of the predecessing book before reading this. I didn't think it was quite as enjoyable as the early books - I like the way that some of the characters crop up again, but really I'd love to hear more about Veronica and Sebastien and the people from the early books!

Anyway, the husband is now home, and as he's got a quick turnaround before he goes out to band practice tonight I should probably go and feed him. A food related post later in the week I think.*


* Yes, I am struggling without cake and ate 2 sports flapjacks last night to compensate.

21 comments:

  1. I reading The Soldiers Wife at the moment, and feel like I am being allowed access to an unknown world. Very good, especially as I work for the Armed Forces so see another side to it all.

    I love the Five Find Outers, must look put for another oe of theirs to read good old Fatty and Mr Goon, although not very politically correct names!

    God luck with the no cake.

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    1. Yes, it was a fascinating read - must be interesting for you too working for the Armed Forces!

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  2. I'm so intrigued by the Susan Scarlett novels but I don't think enough to push me to buy them quite yet. Summer Pudding does sound very fun though and terribly tempting! I've got a library hold on The Soldier's Wife and can't wait for it to come in.

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    1. I don't think Summer Pudding is one of the best ones, Clothes Pegs was really my favourite I think, all about girl mannequins! I hope they become available over your side of the pond.

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  3. Summer Pudding sounds great. I have been reading some of Elizabeth Jane Howards books but can't remember the titles as they've gone to my 'cat lady' friend who sells books in aid of the cats she supports.

    Vicki in Venice and Dancer on Holiday are the rarest two Lorna Hill books. They are the only two I don't have. Both appear on Ebay from time to time and appear to be unsold at around £75 each. It's a pity we Lorna Hillers couldn't club together to buy and then each in turn read it, then maybe sell it on. Don't know how it would work, just occurred to me.

    I loved The Secret but was really saddened by the ending of it and the fact that the grandparents didn't make provision for their grandchild. I know it's not real but when you are reading books you fall into the stories so deeply.

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    1. I'm prepared to pay about that to complete my set, but I really want the Girls Gone By edition to match mine and they're going for a lot more than that!

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    2. I've never seen the GGB one on offer.

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  4. Yum! New Joanna Trollope, always good!

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  5. I also enjoy the Susan Scarlett titles a lot. Must get hold of a copy of the latest one, asap.

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    1. I've got it now, but will be saving it for my April hols!

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  6. I'm new to your website as I ran accross it while looking for books set in the 30s and 40s. May I say how much I'm loving reading your posts as I also love to read and am secretly a little bit of an anglophile when it comes to children's books and mysteries. One of my many favourite authors to read at anytime, but especially during the Christmas holidays is John Masefield. His Midnight Folk and The Box of Delight are two of my all time favourites. I also love to re-read Miss Read when the weather outside is dark and dreary, like it is today.

    Thank you for posting some great titles, and I'm going to look for some of them this coming weekend at a couple of nearby used bookstores. I'm also getting a kick out of your baking posts/recipes and as my husband loves to bake, I may ask him to try out some of the cookie recipes. I'm also going to spend some time this weekend checking out some of the links to other sites which I've seen on this site. Can't wait!

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    1. hello Anonymous - I'm glad you found the blog and are enjoying it. I've never read any John Masefield so maybe I should look that out sometime!

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    2. Hello Verity: thank you for your welcome. Finding your blog seems to have been serendipitous as I find myself in a little bit of a funk these days but your blog, and some of the others I've found via your site, seems to be helping quite a bit. I think that you will really enjoy the Masefield books. By the way, are you an E.F. Benson fan?

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    3. Not a great fan of EFB I'm afraid, but my father is! Blogs are great for reading inspiration, but very dangerous as you will see your wishlist growing!

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    4. I'll say. I'd never heard of Virago Modern Classics until I started reading your blog. Or maybe I'd seen them in my many travels to bookstores but never really paid any attention to them. In any case, looking for and buying a few VMC's has now been added to my list of things to do. As for Benson, I get a kick out of reading his Mapp and Lucia books.

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  7. Please do continue to do reviews of books read even if brief. I've just read the latest Greyladies Susun Scarlett - Ten Way Street - and enjoyed it.

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    1. I'm looking forward to reading that one on my holidays! I'll try to do a bit better with writing about books, but I read so much rubbish these days as am too tired to do any better!

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  8. I was a great Lorna Hill reader as a child, but only her Wells ballet books and the Little Dancer series, and only had them up to Principle Role, as I outgrew them (or so I thought at the time!) and therefore didn't buy the last ones. I now have them all but not the last two in hardback, only in the GGB editions. You might like to have a look at www.savistamagazine.com where I've written this month about children's books and mention Lorna Hill - the feaure is A Flick Back in Time.
    Margaret P

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    1. Ooh, that's fascinating, thanks for sharing the link!

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  9. I would like to add that I found the new Joanna Trollope, The Soldier's Wife, while well-written (Joanna could not write bad prose if she tried) it is a book I did not really enjoy - there are no light moments, it is all rather hard going for those involved in the story. But then, Joanna chooses difficult topics, light reading they are now.

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    1. Yes - I agree it wasn't an uplifting book but I enjoyed it because it was so well written and so interesting

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